The Sphere of Varrock: Holiday Specials
by Haseo The Terror of Death
Summary: A series of holiday one-shots revolving around the The Sphere of Varrock cast you know and love so much. Tremendous new challenges await our heroes as they explore serious themes with the holidays as a backdrop. Spin-off of The Sphere of Varrock. HIATUS!
1. Halloween 2011 Part I

The Sphere of Varrock Specials:

Halloween 2011

A deep chill was in the night air as Solo and Willow wandered the streets of Varrock on a quest for a rare book. He had learned about it from a street vendor a week ago; the book was rumored to contain the recipe to the tastiest cake in the known world. His friends had scoffed at him, unwilling to accompany him. However, his assistant, Willow, had been more than willing to assist him.

Solo rested his freezing arms in his pits trying desperately to keep warm. He didn't know what it was about March, but it was turning out to be the coldest month of winter yet. Which was very peculiar, seeing as how spring should be right around the corner.

Walking at a quick pace, ever wary of the cold, Solo was unaware of the rapt attention his assistant was paying him. Willow's blue eyes were glued to Solo, admiring the way he walked and the sheen of sweat on his face.

Any time he glanced at her, she quickly looked away, a deep blush on her face. Her breathing became shallow, and not just because of the pace at which they walked. Willow realized earlier that this was the longest she had ever spent with her hero, and she was going to make the most of it.

She scrutinized her brown coat and black leggings, intent on looking her best. Passing by a window, she inconspicuously checked her shoulder-length black hair.

Everything passed the inspection. In other words, she was hot. Or about as hot as a thirteen year old girl could get when compared to a mature woman like Emma.

Turning red just at the thought of Emma, Willow shook her head free of Solo's girlfriend. The woman was nothing but an attention seeker.

Solo noticed the lack of any dialogue and attempted to start one. "So Willow," he began. She glanced up at him. "What's it like being a mage?"

"Oh, well, I'm not a mage yet." she frowned. "I'm just an apprentice."

He nodded. "But, you must have learned some cool trick, right?"

She hesitated, and he noticed. "Oh come on, Willow! Show me a trick." He smiled at her, hoping to convince her to give him a magic show.

"You are such a child!" she teased him. "Fine, I'll show you a minor spell I learned."

Holding out her outstretched hand, Willow concentrated and a single drop of water appeared above her palm. With a single thought, the drop began to absorb the moisture in the air, adding to its mass. Within a few short seconds, it had grown to the size of an apple.

Solo stared in awe, and a bit of jealousy; he had only worked out how to summon a small flame. He stole a quick glance up at Willow, and was surprised to see her sweating profusely. Her eyes were nearly scrunched in pain as she struggled to keep the ball of water intact.

This must be harder than it looks, he thought. Suddenly, she gasped and the ball of liquid exploded, water droplets flying everywhere. Willow's face fell in defeat, and she hung her head.

His face contorted, desperately trying hard not to snicker. He let out a chuckle, which Willow heard, drawing her head back up.

"Are you laughing at me?" she exclaimed incredulously. Her face had turned red in embarrassment, and possibly anger.

"No, no," he tried to say without laughing, but failed. "Just that it was funny how it blew up."

Willow glared at him fiercely. "I'm not talking to you; let's go find that stupid book of yours!"

Trudging on at an alarming pace, Willow quickly put some space between her and Solo. He shook off his mirth and chased after her, continually apologizing along the way.

Wow, he thought. It's almost like when he apologizes to Emma.

When Willow had eventually stopped, she stood in front of a dilapidated, old store. Trudging up beside her, Solo tried to peer in through the dusty windows.

"No use," he said with a frown as he tried the door. "I can't see through them, and the door is locked."

Poking around the building, Willow noticed a slightly opened door in the alley. "Solo!" she shouted. "We can go in this way."

The hair on the back of his neck stood up on end as he opened the door and crossed into the dark building. Following close on his heels, Willow suddenly screamed as the door slammed behind them. She pulled on the doorknob in a panic, desperate to get it opened.

While she foolishly tried that, Solo's eyes began to adjust to the dark. He could make out some shelves lining the walls. Stepping around a table, he approached the shelves; a few of them held peculiar items.

He turned toward Willow. "Come here. There's something on these shelves here."

Barely able to contain her terror, but also curious, she made her way over to Solo. Peering around him her eyes caught sight of a jar housing a brain. Quickly, Solo clamped his hand over her mouth before she could let out a scream.

He glared at her, hand still held tight. "Don't scream again, Willow. We don't know if we're really alone."

Her eyes as wide as saucers, she nodded quietly. Solo smiled in relief, and removed his hand; he turned his attention back to the shelf. "There is a lot of interesting items here, Willow. Look at all this stuff. There's jars of brains, other organs, and some creepy black book."

"This book?" she asked, pulling a leather-bound book from the shelf in front of her. "There's no title."

"You're right," he said in surprise. Grabbing the black book back, he flipped through the pages. Much to his shock, each page was completely blank. He flipped through the pages some more, but it had nothing.

"Why aren't there any words, Solo?" Willow asked.

"No clue," he responded back. Just as he was about to put it back, something at the back of the book caught his eye. Frowning quizzically, Solo turned to the final page where a strange symbol adorned a single page.

"Wait a second," Solo said pointing at the page. "This symbol wasn't there before." The symbol looked almost like a pumpkin etched in black ink.

Solo squinted closely at the pumpkin and could swear he saw writing on it. Upon even closer inspection, he found that there was indeed something written on the pumpkin. The inscription read: Nam cultus.

While he was reading it, Willow noticed how close she was to him. Her chest was pressed tight against his shoulder as she stood on tiptoe to read over him. A deep blush settled in her cheeks and she began to grow hot at the thought of being so close to Solo; her body was actually pressed against him in a way that turned her on.

Solo muttered something under his breath, shaking Willow out of her clouded mind. She stepped away from him and went to check on the door again.

As he muttered the inscription again, the symbol began to glow bright orange, frightening him into gasping. Willow rushed over to see him drop the book; the pumpkin continued to glow.

There was something strange happening to Solo and Willow; it felt as if the book had a gravity of its own, and was drawing them towards it.

"What's happening?" Willow asked fearfully.

Solo didn't hear her because the book had started to emit a terrifying tune. It dipped and rose, bringing flashing images of pumpkins and candy. Without warning Solo and Willow found themselves being thrown toward the book. Their screams were drowned out by the crescendo of Halloween music, and with a blink they were gone, nothing but the book lying on the floor to ever hint they were there.

His body ached all over. Head on fire, Solo felt something heavy resting on top of him. Annoyed and curious, he opened his eyes slowly to discover that it was Willow laying on him.

Her eyes fluttered open as she came to. "Solo?" she asked. She blushed deeply when she realized his hands were on her butt.

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed embarrassedly. He quickly removed his hands and instead found himself placing them on the small of her back. Willow blushed again, loving how close she was to Solo right now. She began to lean down for a kiss when a twig snapping startled her.

For the first time, they noticed their surroundings. Somehow the book had, acting as a portal, teleported them to a forest in the midst of autumn. Solo and Willow were just south of a giant, gnarled oak tree, all of its leaves red and orange. Solo's head swiveled in the direction the sound had come from.

Walking toward them was the strangest being either of them had seen before. The figure had the body of a human, but he had the head of a pumpkin, its eyes lit by a flaming fire.

Stopping a few feet from Solo and Willow, the creature waved. "Hello, strangers! What are you two doing by yourselves in Hollow Woods?"

Pushing off of each other, the two climbed to their feet. Solo approached the pumpkin man. "Where are we?"

The man laughed loudly, the sound echoing through the trees. "You're in Hollow Woods, just on the outskirts of Frightville. The festival is about to start, and you don't want to miss it. So come with me."

He turned to head back the way they'd seen him come from when Willow called out to him. "Wait, what's your name?"

"My friends call me Jack," he replied with a grin.

As could be imagined, the two had many questions for their new friend Jack. For one, where was Frightville? How did they get there? Unfortunately, Jack didn't know anything about a book with a pumpkin symbol, though he smiled at the use of imagery.

On their way to town, they passed a small hut. Playing in the grass out front were two children, but something was off about them: the little boys had demon ears. Solo couldn't wrap his head around the situation, having zero experience with something like this. First a man with a pumpkin for a head, and now children with demon ears. What could possibly be next?

The first thing they saw as they started to come over a hill was hundreds of curls of smoke lifting into the sky. When the reached the top, Solo was astonished to see a gigantic city looming in the distance.

"It's even bigger than Falador, Solo!" Willow leaned over to whisper to Solo. "How come we've never heard of this place before?"

Solo didn't know; a place this large should have been easy to spot. His eyebrows curled in thought.

What if we're in the Eastern Lands, he thought. That might explain the strange inhabitants.

"Just below is my home, Frightville," announced Jack. "The second largest city in the world. If you're looking for a scary time, then this city is the perfect place to be. You see, the Frightville Festival is the most celebrated event since forever, and many travelers come from all over to participate in the games and rides."

Now at the city gates, Jack turned to his two companions. "Don't be surprised if people look at you strange; it's just we haven't seen folks like you in a long time."

"That's surprising," Willow whispered sarcastically.

Pointing down the street, Jack said, "I have some things to take care before the festival tonight, so this is where we part. Take this street all the way down, then make a right, then another left. Third on the right will be the Ghost Brothers' Hotel. Check yourselves in and explore our quaint city!"

After checking into their hotel, Willow and Solo agreed to take a look around town. Solo was getting hungry and he had seen a bakery a few buildings down from the hotel. He grabbed the only thing that he had brought with him, a dagger, not knowing that a situation could occur where he'd need something stronger.

Standing outside the bakery, the sign read: Cemetery Bakery. A picture of a graveyard, rotted hands coming forth from the ground, stood plastered to the brick wall.

There'd better be real food in here, he thought.

Opening the glass door, an overhead bell chimed as he entered. The sweet smell of bread assaulted his nose, his mouth watering instantly. He approached the counter and rung the bell for service.

A bloated man came from the kitchen, his eyes small and fierce, but similarly void and lifeless. Solo managed to hold in a gasp, but his eyes betrayed his fear.

"What's the matter, boy?" The man's voice sounded gurgled, like he was choking on his own blood. "Never seen a dead man before?"

"I'm sorry," Solo managed to stutter.

The man grinned. "It's fine. So, what'll you have?"

"Any sweet rolls?"

"No, I'm afraid not. The festival folks cleared them all out this morning. Let me see if I have any extras in the back, though."

Solo sighed wearily. The sound of the front door caught his attention, and turning around he saw such a sexy girl. Her long red hair cascaded down to her bright red dress; the dress hugged each and every one of her luscious curves.

Her eyes found Solo, and her painted-red lips turned up into a smile, revealing her white teeth. As she walked toward the counter, she seemed to blaze across the room, her eyes almost like fire themselves.

She stopped a foot away from Solo; her very presence sucked all the air out of the room, leaving Solo sweating profusely.

"Hello," she smiled.

Solo couldn't find the words to say, as if his tongue had swollen and become limp as a rag. He began getting a sense of déjà vu, like he'd seen this woman before.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He nodded in response. "Yeah, just fine."

Coming back from the kitchen with a box of sweet rolls, the bloated man noticed the woman. "Oh, Veronica, you're here for your order."

Veronica nodded and stepped forward. "Yes, Mr. Coxin. I hope they're ready." He bent down behind the counter and reappeared with another box similar to Solo's.

"One chocolate cake especially ordered for you, Ms. Veronica."

Veronica grabbed hold of the box, thanked the man, and turned to leave. She quickly turned back around and addressed Solo, "What's your name, stranger?"

"Solo," he replied with a smile. He stared into her bright blue eyes and wished never to leave. "My name's Solo Pehkayer."

Extending her hand, she introduced herself as Veronica, which Solo took earnestly. Stepping closer to him, her scent rafting over him like cinnamon, she kissed him on the cheek. Veronica smiled as she left a stunned Solo behind.

"What just happened?" he asked confusedly. He glanced at Coxin to see him frowning deeply. "What's wrong?"

Coxin's face had grown pale white, something Solo didn't know could happen to an already dead and pale man. Slowly he raised a fat finger at Solo, quivering. "Y-you've been marked."

"I've been marked?" Solo asked. "What do you mean marked?"

"The witch has marked you as hers," the shop keep reiterated. "Once that has happened, you must do as she bids for the rest of your life!"

To make matters even worse, Solo began to notice a searing pain on the cheek the woman had kissed. When he touched it, he winced in pain. He ran to a mirror and found to his shock that in the place where he had been kissed was a burn mark in the shape of lips.

Coxin was right; he had been marked. The shop keep padded over to him and gave him some potion for the burn, but stated that it would continue to return to its original burning state until he died.

Solo rushed from the store, in a hurry to find Willow, and perhaps come up with some plan of action. One thing was certain: they needed to get out of this nightmarish place.

Willow walked the streets in constant fear. Everywhere she looked there was a monster. She'd even seen a couple of vampires carrying umbrellas. Not only that, but there had been a couple of close calls with talking snakes slithering around her feet.

As she continued further down the street, she began to piece together the town and its customs. Somehow the book had teleported them to a place where all the Halloween monsters lived; the monsters celebrated Halloween, too.

A large creature suddenly came out of nowhere, instantly denying her access to the street she was about to turn on. Gingerly she raised her voice to the seven foot tall monster. When the monster rotated to face her, she nearly jumped out of her skin; the monster had the face of a baby, but with rows of razor sharp teeth.

"Is there a problem?" it said in a thundering voice.

Shaking in terror, she spoke barely above a whisper, "You're in the way."

To her surprise, the monster looked embarrassed. "Oh, I am deeply sorry, ma'am. I'm afraid my height often gets in the way of seeing such tiny folk like you." He stepped to the side, beckoning her to go. She waved at him as she passed, a little bit more assured in the town.

The people of Frightville were giving him weird looks, not just because he was sprinting toward his hotel as quick as he could, but from the ever-burning mark on his cheek. Finally he noticed the Ghost Brothers' Hotel. Solo flew in, taking the steps up to his room two at a time.

Once inside, he realized Willow hadn't gotten back yet and that she had said she'd be gone for two hours. He decided he'd take a quick nap before she arrived, but just as he was climbing into bed, he noticed the sound of running water.

It was coming from the bathroom. Unlike most places, the hotel didn't have a traditional bath. It was much larger, appearing to be capable of holding at least four people. Investigating the sound, just to make sure it wasn't some unannounced monster, Solo slowly pushed open the bathroom door.

Inside the room, Solo could only see a shadowy figure in the bath due to all the steam. Stepping closer, his foot landed on a squeaky plank, and he froze in place. Luckily for him whoever was in the bath was still filling the tub with hot water.

Sneaking further in, Solo got a bad feeling about what he was doing. The person hidden behind the veil of steam began to look more and more feminine, and Solo didn't want to intrude on a woman taking a bath.

Wait a minute, he thought suddenly. She's in his bath, so why should he care if he intruded?

He now stood a few feet from the tub, and his view of the woman had increased somewhat. At the sight of the lady, his breath caught in his throat. Her legs were visible, his eyes following them up to her stomach; he struggled to breathe as he was immediately attracted to this girl. He took in all the details of her lithe, young body. Eyes moving of their own coalition, he stared at her chest, then moved to her face.

Eyes wide at what he was seeing, Solo stumbled back a few steps; his lack of looking out for where he was stepping caused him to slip on the wet floor. Solo hit the floor hard at just the exact time the girl had turned off the faucet.

"Solo?" Willow squeaked loudly. "What are you dong here?" Her entire face a shade of red, Willow desperately tried to cover up her exposed flesh, but to no avail.

Picking himself up, Solo tried to speak, but all that came out was a whisper. "Didn't know you were home. I heard the water running and thought someone had broken in."

"I finished shopping and came back early," she explained, still blushing red. Her eyes were focused on the floor so he couldn't see how red her face had become.

"I'm so sorry, Willow!" he said in a burst.

"Could you turn around?" she asked quietly. "I'd like to get out of the bath and put a towel on."

He nodded enthusiastically. Solo looked as far right as his head could possibly swivel. The sound of splashing told him that she had risen from the bath. He waited a few minutes before he finally heard her tell him he could turn around again.

When he faced her again, she had a white towel wrapped tight around her. Solo felt so ashamed when he found his eyes drawn to her legs which, while thin, were very pleasant to look at. While only thirteen, Willow was beginning to get curves, and Solo couldn't tell if that's something he should be worried about or enjoying.

"What are you staring at?" Solo mentally cursed himself. Of course she had noticed him checking her legs out; she wasn't clueless. He didn't know a person could turn any redder, but somehow Willow had managed.

Feet moving of their own accord, Solo found himself standing in front of her. He smiled weakly and said, "Please grant me your forgiveness, Willow."

Taken aback by his formalness, she replied, "For what?"

"I was staring at you in the bath and I didn't look away."

She smiled back at him. "You…you were staring at me? How long?"

Solo suddenly blushed and looked down. "Several minutes, I couldn't look away." Never had his shoes seemed so interesting.

He felt a hand on his chest, and when he looked up Willow had taken a step closer. She was smiling sweetly and blushing furiously, her eyes flicking away and back.

"Solo" was all she said before kissing him. His head swam with what was happening. Willow, his young assistant, was kissing him and quite well. He knew he would regret this, and with that small thought he grabbed her and pulled her close.

Now using both of her hands to grip his hair, the towel slipped from her and to the floor. Electricity shot through him at the feel of her skin against his shirt, her wet body soaking his clothes.

Her lips, he thought, were so soft and plump. He had never felt anything like this, besides his first kiss with Tory. He kissed her back with all he could muster, his faculties leaving him immediately.

Coming up for air, Willow had begun to doubt herself and voiced them. "Solo, maybe we shouldn't." Solo's breathing had become labored and he shushed her.

"Shut up," he commanded.

Willow grinned and they resumed the kiss, barely coming up to breathe. It had all happened so quickly and without much thought that she had barely had time to consider that she had finally gotten Solo.

Body tingling with pleasure and excitement, Willow pushed Solo into the tub with a giggle. He landed in it with a huge splash; he came up coughing and sputtering, but was too happy to complain. Willow leaned over to make sure he was okay, which he took advantage of by yanking her in along with him.

The two laughed when they noticed how silly they were acting. Slowing down to enjoy their predicament, Solo teased Willow. He ran his hands up and down her back, enticing a squeal of delight from her. Moving lower and lower, Willow grew very hot.

She stopped him and grinned. "I didn't know you went so far on a first date."

He winked and replied, "I wasn't going to. I only wanted to see how far you'd let me go."

"Not that far, Solo," she responded slyly. "How about this, instead?"

She leaned down and kissed him on the lips, pushing her tongue in. surprised at how bold Willow was acting, he decided he actually liked this Willow. He responded back in turn with his own tongue .

Pulling back, Solo asked, "Wow, how old are you again?"

"I'm thirteen." Willow's inner fire started to subside, and her regular shy self began to return. She blushed crimson at how she'd acted and that she was still naked.

"Oh, Solo!" she suddenly exclaimed. "I'm sorry for kissing you. I shouldn't have done that, because you're older than me and you've got Emma."

She quickly stood up, got out of the tub, and wrapped the towel around her. Facing Solo she apologized again, yet was taken back when Solo leapt from the tub and grabbed her waist.

Looking her straight in the eyes, he said, "Don't be sorry. I enjoyed this. I mean, I also felt a bit ashamed of my actions, but in the end we enjoyed ourselves, right?

Willow nodded. "But how will everyone react when they learn that you kissed someone as young as me?"

Solo, for the first time, became worried. His eyes clouded over as he thought about what she'd said. "We can't let anyone know about this, Willow. Not if we want to escape persecution."

Willow turned her back on Solo, tears in her eyes. "Do you mean that we can't ever be together again?

He wrapped his arms around her from behind. He ran his fingers through her silky hair in order to comfort her. "Did you honestly expect a happy ending like in the books?"

She looked at him with her big, blue eyes. "I did, Solo, because I'm in love with you!"

Overcome with desire she kissed him once again, but with sadness and anguish. He responded in turn and he loved every bit of it. "I can't say that back, Willow. I'm confused at what exactly I'm feeling."

"Say you love me, too," she said, tears running down her cheeks.

Taking a moment to think, Solo delved deeply to pull out what he said next. "I think I could be falling in love with you, Willow. I've never truly noticed how cute you are before now, and I can honestly say I've never felt this way quite before."

As he said that his mark began to glow red. With a gasp, he felt it dissipate all together. When he noticed Willow's eyes wide with fright, he related his encounter with the witch in red.

"And it's gone?" she asked out of concern.

He grinned impishly. "It seems it disappeared after we confessed our feelings to each other."

She punched him lightly. "Are you trying to say love won the day?"

Serious once again, he answered, "I'm saying your feelings beat the witch, Willow."

"Oh, Solo," she said with a blush.

He didn't know how long they would be trapped in Frightville, or if the town was even on the same world as their own, but he did know one thing. As long as he had Willow by his side, he would survive.

**To Be Continued Next Halloween…  
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><p><strong>Review Q: What are your thoughts on the budding relationship between young Willow and Solo? Will it last? Explain in your Review.<strong>

**Well I've finally finished the first part of the Halloween Special and I hope you enjoyed it. It took me an entire month to write this, and while I think the premise is one of my best, I think the execution is one of the worst. I seriously think this is one of the worst things I've ever written; however, it's up to you guys to decide whether you agree or not :D.**

**This story is a series of one-shot holiday specials, and the next story is the Thanksgiving Special, so look for that next month.**

**I hope you guys had a fright-filled Halloween! Muhahahaha!**

**Until next we meet, Happy Halloween!**


	2. Thanksgiving 2011

**Worked all of last night and early this morning writing this, so I hope you get some enjoyment from it. Happy Thanksgiving!**

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><p>The Sphere of Varrock Specials:<p>

Thanksgiving 2011

Excitement crackled through the air like lightning. The streets were packed with people, their smiling faces revealing their festive mood. Even as summer gave way to fall and the temperatures dropped, the citizens of Varrock could not be stopped from attending the Annual Thanksgiving Feast held in the town square.

Stuck behind an ever-growing line, Emma LeCeux began to grow increasingly impatient. She'd never seen such a turnout before. Her face briefly darkened as to the reason: Solo's death.

It had only been a few months ago, but the image of Solo, his head punctured by an arrow, stuck with her. Emma had had nightmares almost every night. Because of this her work ethic soon deteriorated.

Someone shouting her name caught her attention. She swiveled around looking for whoever had called her when she saw a tiny figure rushing toward her.

Tenino's furry head popped into view as he shoved a little girl out of his way. If it weren't for his arrogant and sexist attitude, Emma would almost call the talking panda cute.

"If it isn't the fragile flower I've come to know and love," Tenino said with a chuckle and a wink. "How have you been? I haven't seen you helping with the clean-up. I hope you're not on your period." He said this last part loudly.

And there went her relatively good mood; if you could call it that. She flashed her biggest and most fakest smile. "No, you have a few more days until that." Tenino gave a dramatic sigh of relief. "I don't know if you've heard, Tenny, but I've been demoted."

"So the rumors _are _true!" he exclaimed with glee. "That punk Dustin owes me 100 gold." Emma groaned. It seemed even her friends were betting on her failures.

"Before I forget, here is something I was asked to give to you." Tenino fished through the pouch he wore around his waist and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He held it out to her.

"Who is it from?" she asked as she opened it. Glancing through the note she realized it was an invitation to a Thanksgiving dinner from Gwendolyn.

Within the hour, Emma found herself reluctantly standing in front of Draynor Manor. Its brown walls towered over her, almost seeming to be alive. Something twitched in the corner of her eye. When she turned to see what, it vanished. It looked like it might have been a vine.

"I don't know why I came here." she groaned. The trees all appeared to watch her, waiting for her to make a mistake. Carefully she plodded down the dirt path leading up to the house. At the door she knocked three times.

When no one answered she took it upon herself to go in. Once inside the door slammed shut behind her. Emma let out a small cry of alarm, then turned to see several wooden chairs sitting innocently. Sure that they weren't there before, Emma feels the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

She explored her surroundings and soon finds herself standing in the kitchen, but still no Gwendolyn. She shouted out hoping to be heard; there was only silence to greet her. Annoyed and upset, Emma headed out of the kitchen and into what appeared to be the study.

Becoming increasingly curious of the manor's contents, she decided to peruse some of the books placed on the bookshelves. After growing bored with that she noticed something off about the candle sconce on the west wall.

Suddenly a secret door appeared when she touched the sconce. At first taken back by the door opening, she entered with her sword at the ready.

She was now in a bedroom. Emma smiled and laughed. "A hidden bedroom? Gwendolyn is such a paranoid witch."

"What are you doing in my room?" said a woman to her right. Emma wondered where she'd come from, but out of the corner of her eye she saw a ladder leading down.

The woman with short blonde hair with goggles resting on her head poised the question again, "I asked you what are you doing in my bedroom?"

"There's the remote possibility I may be lost," she replied coyly. "I was invited here by Gwendolyn the Black Witch."

Scowling at the inconvenience, the blonde offered to take Emma to Gwendolyn's study where she researched black magic. Along the way Emma learned that her escort was Professor Oddenstein's assistant. Her job was to find subjects to experiment on, willing or not. As the assistant led Emma through the creepy manor, she managed to catch slight glimpses of portraits that seemed to follow her every move.

Not that she was afraid; of course not.

Despite Oddenstein's assistant's loose lips, she refused to discuss what particular research Gwendolyn was doing or even divulge her own name; such was Emma's luck.

Once, the assistant had noted Emma's steel sword. Emma flippantly explained that she was under the assumption that this all was a trap. Apparently the assistant agreed which didn't make Emma feel better.

The assistant stopped at a door. "This is Gwendolyn's study. I'd knock before entering if I were you." With that said, she beat a hasty retreat back to her room leaving Emma standing alone in the dark.

Hesitantly she raised a fist and knocked lightly. When there was no response she tried knocking a bit louder. She waited a few seconds, and still no answer. Naturally she became frustrated and banged on the door with all her might. Even that didn't elicit a reaction. In a rage, she stormed into the study shouting, "When I knock you better answer me, you stupid witch!"

She came to an abrupt stop at the sight before her: with her head on the desk, Gwendolyn was sleeping. Gwendolyn gave out a slight snore that rustled some papers underneath her. Piled around her, threatening to collapse in on her, was a tower of books.

Sitting down to wait for Emma to arrive, Gwendolyn had chosen to use that time wisely to search for an answer to a dire problem. However she found herself so immersed in her work that she had fallen asleep. And no closer to finding a solution.

Emma chuckled warmly. She'd never seen this side of the Black Witch before. It looked like there was a softer side of Gwen. She walked behind the desk and shook her gently.

Stirring slightly and groaning groggily, Gwendolyn's head raised. As her eyes adjusted she glanced around confused. She went to stand when she finally noticed she had company. "Emma? Oh, I'm so sorry. I was up late doing some research and I must have fell asleep. Have you been waiting long?"

Shocked at Gwendolyn for actually sounding amicable, Emma chalked it up to Gwendolyn just waking up. "I only just got here, and to be honest I'm a tiny bit surprised that you invited me here."

With the last bit of crust out of her eyes, Gwendolyn began putting her books back on their various shelves. One tome caught Emma's eye. It was titled, "Dark Arts: Necromancy." The book was yanked out of her hands by Gwendolyn who angrily put it away. "That's private."

"Understood," Emma said. "It's none of _my _business."

Having put the last of her books away, Gwendolyn beckoned Emma to follow her to the dining room. Emma followed obediently, all the while wondering exactly what Gwendolyn's game was. Their heated rivalry was known by all, ever since Gwendolyn had first appeared after Solo's death claiming to be his lover. Of course it didn't help matters that before he died, Emma had caught Solo cheating on her with Emily. Gwendolyn may have been a great asset, and regular nuisance, during the war, but Emma could never get Solo's apparent betrayal out of her mind.

Had he cheated on her with more girls than just Emily? What other girls had he come into contact with? Willow came to mind. But she was only a thirteen year old girl. Would Solo really have taken advantage of her, too? And then there was Tory, an old flame of his. Or so she had been informed.

Maybe Emma had been completely wrong about Solo after all. She had certainly been wrong about Dream, at least initially.

"And here we are," Gwendolyn said with a grin. "I hope you're hungry, because I've certainly cooked enough food to feed a small army."

Emma's mouth watered as her eyes desperately took in the feast before her. Spread before her was turkey, pies of all kind, gravy, cornbread, squash, and a myriad collection of jam. Her host bade her sit. After sitting she glanced up to see if Gwendolyn would initiate the prayer, but was shocked to see her already digging in. With a laugh, she dove in as well.

She bit into the turkey and moaned in delight. "This is so good! Did you flavor it with spices?"

Gwendolyn smiled. "Grown from my own garden." She paused to take a slice of pumpkin pie. "It helps to grow my own ingredients; I'm not very wanted in town."

"On account of you being a witch?" Emma conjectured.

"No." Gwendolyn scowled. "They've always hated me, even before I became a witch. It's a long story and I don't care to relive it."

An awkward silence filled the air as they finished their meal. Emma searched for something to say, yet nothing came to her. Emma offered to clean up, but Gwendolyn assured her that it would take care of itself. What she didn't say was that the ghostly tenants would tidy up afterwards.

Emma followed Gwendolyn back up to her study. She watched as the witch began grabbing books, and an idea came to her. "Hey, Gwendolyn, do you need any assistance with your research? I'm no stranger around books; I had to do an enormous amount of reading when studying for my entrance exams for the White Knights."

"That won't be necessary," Gwendolyn replied dismissively. Looking up she waved her hand signaling for Emma to leave now. "You can leave now."

"What's your deal?" Emma yelled. She was growing very frustrated at the girl's erratic behavior. First she was kind enough to invite her to Thanksgiving dinner, and then she was dismissing her without so much as a goodbye. Something was up.

Gwendolyn replied angrily, "My deal? My deal? I'll inform you of my deal. I've been struggling to be friendly with you, for Solo's sake, but I just can't anymore; I need to say this. You never deserved him."

"What did you just say?" Emma asked, anger barely contained. Her fists were clenched tightly enough to draw blood, but she didn't care.

Emma watched as the witch pushed herself out from behind her desk, stomping to her. The witch's face had a slight pink tinge to it as she finally voiced what she had been holding in all day. "Solo was the bravest, strongest, cutest, and most selfless guy in the world and you did not deserve him. In fact, you should never have been together in the first place, on account of you being way too old for him. Let's face it, you're a harlot! No wonder he found it okay to sleep around, because you showed him that harlots were desirable!"

Emma got right in Gwendolyn's face. "You're calling _me_ a harlot? Look at you, you're older than I am and yet you couldn't keep your hands off him in those telepathic conversations!" Face growing redder by the second, Emma continued on. "Solo slept around because of you! If you had never gotten your witch claws into him, he never would have cheated on me with that whore, Emily."

"If it weren't for me, he would have stayed a zombie!" Gwendolyn countered. "Maybe I should have let him stay like that."

"Then why did you help him in the first place?"

"Because I loved him!" Gwendolyn shouted with all her might.

That stopped Emma's next outburst. She noticed that Gwendolyn's cheeks were a bright shade of red. Was she embarrassed? Had she really loved Solo?

"You…loved him?" she managed to squeak.

Gwendolyn's hand suddenly glowed red as she prepared a fire spell. Her eyes changed to a pitch black, and her voice carried a hint of menace. "Get out of my manor!"

Not prepared for a magic fight, Emma beat a strategic retreat. She managed to open the front door, despite it not bugging the first few tries, and ran as fast as she could until she was a safe distance away. She could hear the distance sounds of the witch taking her anger out on her room; luckily she had been calm enough to wait for Emma to vacate the premises.

Walking the long road back to Varrock, Emma thought back on what Gwen had said, that she had loved Solo. She finally understood why the Black Witch had helped out during the war and had went to such lengths to attempt bringing Solo back to life despite the strange "occurrences" along the way.

"She must have really cared for him," Emma mused sadly. She looked up into the night sky. "Solo, where did you go? Why'd you have to leave us? Are you alone, are you searching for a way back?"

She let the hot, burning tears escape. "Where are you now? Are you lost? Will I find you again?" She broke down and fell to her knees. "Why did you have to go, Solo? You left me alone and afraid. I'm not sure I will see you again." Emma let out a gut-wrenching sob, her feelings bubbling to the surface as she came to terms with Solo's apparent death.

The sound of footsteps behind her caused her to wipe her tears away and stumble to her feet. To her surprise, it was Gwendolyn. The witch's eyes were puffy from crying and her mascara was running. She opened her mouth to say what she'd rehearsed, but they weren't needed. Emma ran to her, throwing her arms around the girl. Both girls broke out into sobs, holding each other tight, as if that one act of sympathy had opened the floodgates.

Her face buried in Emma's hair, Gwendolyn asked, "Why did you do that? Why hug me after everything I said?"

"I saw you were crying," she answered simply. As if it were as simple as that. And maybe it was.

"I just want everything to be the way it was before," Gwendolyn said in a whisper, interrupted by her sobs. "Back to when Solo was here. Back to when I was tougher around him."

Emma didn't respond; Gwendolyn needed to let it all out. She sniffed loudly, continuing softly. "What kind of gods give him back, only to rip him away from us again? What kind of monsters?

"I truly loved him. When he came, I was sure that he would see the light and love me back."

Emma waited for her to go on. As the witch broke out into another sob, the young knight held her tighter. Gwen needed this as much as she did, if only to give them some closure. Never one for crying, Emma knew how hard this must be for a woman who prided herself on being tough.

"I tried everything to get him back, you know? Made pacts with devils, demons, and even angels. I tried contacting Mainiac, but it seems only Solo could talk with him; it wasn't fair. That bastard sent our Solo to his death!"

Emma decided to speak up. "It was Solo's choice in the end, and he never would have turned his back on someone in need. Even when it caused him great pain."

The witch nodded sullenly. "Though sometimes I wonder if he really is…dead. We saw it with our own eyes. He vanished in a flash of white light, so maybe he's alone out there? Searching for a way home to…us." She had been about to say 'me,' but caught herself.

Emma smiled. "Perhaps he is just waiting for the right moment to send us a sign."

The witch grinned slightly at the thought. "What do you think the sign would be, if he could send us one?"

"I don't know," she answered after some thought.

"I know what it would be," Gwendolyn winked slyly. Emma asked what. With an even bigger smile and a fire burning in her eyes, Gwendolyn replied, "A new-born star, burning its white light across the land."

Almost as if by fate, a bright white star flashed into existence in the great murky sky. Emma didn't notice, but Gwendolyn did. She chuckled to herself and whispered into the wind. Suddenly a slight breeze brushed against her cheek and carried the words into the darkness.

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><p><strong>Review Q: What did she whisper?<strong>

**InterCom: This was an emotional special, so I'm going to leave it at that. Leave your questions in your review.**

**Make sure to keep your loved ones close and let them know how you feel every day.**

**Happy Thanksgiving, and until next we meet, I bid you adieu.**


	3. Christmas 2011

**Merry Christmas! Here's my present to you. The tale of Ebenezer Scourge. Review Q and InterCom below!**

**Note: I had to change the ending because of some inconsistencies between mine and Mainiac97's stories. The end is still pretty much the same, just the circumstances behind Scourge's death.  
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><p>The Sphere of Varrock Specials:<p>

Christmas 2011

How did he get into this mess? Ebenezer coughed up blood as he tried to reason with the cloaked stranger, but he wouldn't hear it. All he wanted was some sphere. Suddenly the stranger's hand pressed against his skin and the next thing he felt was a searing pain, so terrible he blacked out.

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><p><em>Cold<em>, he thought. _So very cold_. His extremities had long gone numb from the bone-chilling cold; his mind soon followed. His thoughts were heavy as he attempted to think of a way out of his predicament.

Ebenezer scanned the distant horizon, but he could see nothing but white. White in every single direction he turned to. How long had he been trapped in the blizzard? He no longer knew, for he had given up counting.

Angry at his parents for not allowing him to practice magic, Ebenezer had run away. It had taken him a day to travel from Falador to Varrock, but when he arrived he had noticed a strange cupboard just before the city gate.

His curious nature got the better of him and he jumped into it; never had he regretted one action so much. Now he was going to die from frostbite. He didn't even have a coat or gloves on.

Losing all feeling in his legs, Ebenezer slumped to the ground in surrender, deciding to lie down and die. He'd wished he had gotten to say goodbye to his parents. As his vision faded, he thought he saw something. A dark blur drawing closer, lost amid the twirling snowflakes.

It leaned over and picked him up with a groan. Had it said something to him? He thought he heard a voice, but that was the last thing he remembered before passing out.

He woke up lying on a comfy bed surrounded by plush blue pillows. He let out a yawn and tried to sit up, but sat back down after he realized he was only in his underwear. Surveying the room, he attempted to make sense of where he was. He seemed to be in a girl's room because of all the bottles of perfume, lace, and stuffed animals. A warm fire crackled in the fireplace, the source of the warmth in the room.

"Where am I?" he asked himself. Ebenezer noticed his pants hung over a chair near the door. He threw back the thick covers and padded over to them. He put them on quickly and threw on his shirt; he was getting out of there. However, when he tried the door it was locked from the outside. Ebenezer, in a panic, pushed against the door violently in a desperate attempt to escape the room.

Someone on the other side pushed against the door and it hit him hard in the face. His hands flew up to protect his face, but it was already too late. A woman dressed in blue walked in with a tray of brownies, and when she saw that he was awake she smiled and said, "Glad to see you up and about, stranger. I was afraid you were going to stay asleep, and then I'd have nowhere to sleep."

Ebenezer took in this beautiful woman. She was the most amazing creature he had seen in his life. He asked "What's your name?"

She grinned and replied, "Lumi. And you?"

"Ebenezer," he replied. "Lumi, what is going on here? Last I remember I was lying in the snow."

"I was on a walk through my kingdom and I found you huddled on the ground, a sheet of snow covering you like a blanket. I managed to carry you back to my home where I removed your wet clothes and set them to dry by the fireplace." Ebenezer noticed that his clothes were near the fireplace, the last place he would have looked.

She continued, "If I may ask, what were you doing wandering through the Land of Snow during one of our infamous blizzards?"

While she had been talking, he had helped himself to some brownies, but he stopped mid-chew at the mention of Land of Snow. So this was the Land of Snow, he thought. Not the most inviting place, with the exception of this lovely lady's abode.

After swallowing the brownie, he responded with as short a version as he could think of, "I was running away from home. I happened upon this strange cupboard, and when I opened it I was sucked in. Then I found myself in the freezing snow with no idea how I had gotten there."

The woman frowned. "You poor boy! What caused you to run away? If I'm not being rude for asking."

So he told her why he ran away from home. Living under an oppressive roof with self-righteous parents, who believed magic was evil, made his life difficult; more difficult than it had to be. Whenever he wanted to practice magic, he would be forced to sneak off into the woods or find some cave. While this was necessary most of the time, it could get highly dangerous if he chose the wrong cave, where hungry creatures prowled. Once he had to elude a trio of upset zombies when he stumbled onto an old necromancer's cave, now long since abandoned by any living thing.

Ebenezer managed to keep his using magic a secret for a year or so, but the lies eventually caught up to him. His parents hired a mercenary to follow him to one of his practice spots and reported back his use of magic. At the time, his parents refused to speak with him; this was, Ebenezer thought, decidedly worse than them yelling at him.

When they did finally talk to him again, they forbade him from practicing magic. Sick of their rules and prejudices, he had packed his belongings, his staff and books, and made off into the night. He didn't have an exact plan, but he knew he had to get away from his parents.

Then the cupboard had changed everything.

Ebenezer finished the last brownie just as he wrapped up his tale. He saw sympathy in the woman's eyes, and for a second his heart skipped a beat. Without thinking he blurted out, "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met."

She blushed crimson red. Quickly she took the empty plate and left the room. Before he could think that he had went too far, she returned and kissed him, then left again. Scourge smiled. This woman was something special; he just knew it.

Fully recuperated, Scourge decided to stay with his snow angel, to travel the Land of Snow with her. Scourge saw many beautiful and amazing things, some even heavenly. During their journey across the realm, the two became as close as two people in love could be. Lumi did not mind him practicing magic, so after a few weeks of traveling, Ebenezer Scourge picked up on his training to become a powerful mage.

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><p>He sat bent over his desk, studying the intricate rune stones he had discovered a week ago. Finding more and more around the Land of Snow deeply troubled him, though he could not figure out why. It was just a gut feeling. Over the years he had identified flame, water, sky, and earth. An experiment here and there revealed magical properties lying dormant within the various runes.<p>

While the runes he had identified were largely harmless, in the wrong hands, or even a novice's, they could be quite deadly; proven when he had accidentally set his shed on fire many moons ago.

He reached his hand into the bucket where he kept runes that he picked up on his frequent walks, and came up with one he had never seen before. The drawing on it was that of blue scales. He searched for more like it but he seemed to only have that one. He was about to place it next to the four air runes he had on his bench when Lumi called for him. Placing the rune in his pocket for now, he slid from his seat and headed to check on his fiancée.

She was standing outside the kitchen door waiting for him. A bright grin was etched onto her face. He grinned back. Lumi never seemed to stop smiling. "Ebby, what would you like for dinner?"

"How about some rabbit stew? We can't let the fresh rabbits you caught this morning go to waste, can we?" She nodded, blew a kiss his way and danced back into the kitchen.

He went back to work at deciphering the strange, new rune. After a few long minutes, his eyes became strained, so he placed the rune next to the air runes. Without warning the new rune started glowing and in a change reaction, set the air runes to glowing.

"What in the world?" Scourge exclaimed. He drew his notes out and began scribbling furiously, detailing everything that was happening. "It would seem that by placing this new rune beside these air runes causes a chain reaction of some sort. No clue as to what exactly about the rune causes this or what, if any, effect the reaction does. I plan on doing some extensive research into-"

A flash of light blinded him. His hands covered his face in vain as the light managed to pierce past his hands and into his eyes. And just as fast as the light had appeared, so did it vanish, leaving nothing behind but the frantic scribbles of a curious mage.

Where he went could only be described as hell on earth. While he tried his best, he was unable to overcome the corruption that pervaded the kingdom. He spent many years desperately trying to return to his love; doing anything to return, he crossed that line many try never to cross in their lifetime.

But he did and it cost him his humanity. And, after a few decades, he did manage to find his way back to the Land of Snow. However, what he returned to was a pain unimaginable to those who have never loved someone so deeply they would do almost anything to get back to them. Lumi, his snow angel, had learned of the evil acts he had committed, and had left him for another man.

Ebenezer was, in a word, destroyed. While he had changed drastically over the years, he had never lost that one bit of light, a light that represented his love for Lumi. When she rejected him out of disgust for his actions, that one bit of goodness, of light, was crushed.

He only had her last words to keep him company in his depression: 'I can't love a man who would do such unspeakable horrors in my name. Get out and never return, Ebenezer!'

Her words would haunt him until the day he died.

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><p>"What are you watching?" said a man covered in shadows. He stepped out from his hiding spot and approached the one who his question was directed at.<p>

"Just reviewing Scourge's life," the second man replied, his voice a deep growl. "Why are you here? It's not every day a Spectral visits."

The visitor peered around the watcher's shoulder and tried to get a glance at the ball of darkness currently playing back Scourge's life. His voice held a hint of curiosity, he said, "Must be an interesting life for you to review it. I've never heard of you doing something like this, Reaper."

The Grim Reaper grunted. "Don't remind me. To even think about it makes me sick, that was if I could get sick." He returned his attention back to the ball, indicating that he had lost interest in their conversation. When the visitor made it obvious he had no intention of leaving, Grim sighed and looked over his shoulder. "Did you need something?"

"I came to retrieve Scourge's memories," he said. "I can wait if you're busy, though. I have all the time in the world." The Spectral grinned beneath his hood like he'd told a hilarious joke.

The Grim Reaper replied, "You're wasting your time. I won't be giving it to you. Waste of a perfectly good set of memories, if you ask me."

"What?" he exclaimed. "What's so different about Scourge that you won't hand him over to us so we can send him to the Beyond?"

"He's lived a life of heartache and loss," Grim told the Spectral, matter-of-factly.

The stranger straightened his hood before stating, "Everyone does, Grim. Doesn't mean we can just leave them in limbo."

Grim Reaper growled. "It's not something I'm willing to leave like this; Knowing enough not to sever the ties between soul and body, Kuro purposely left him in limbo, because killing him would have been too easy."

The Spectral stood still, his mouth hung open in surprise. When he regained his senses he stepped closer, his finger pointed at Scourge's memory sphere. "You've got to be kidding me! Just because Ryu left this monster in limbo, now you're suddenly willing to fix it?"

The Grim Reaper groaned. "Yes."

"Are you crazy, Grim?" Spectral shouted. "I won't let you do this."

The lord of death turned to Scourge's memories. He said, "I have decided to bring him back from his limbo-like state. And don't let your race's lofty position make you think you have any power over Death itself."

The visitor asked, "Kuro took care of him and, to be frank, did us a favor. Why would you bring him back?"

Grim grabbed the memory sphere and set it free, watching it drift back to the earth, finally free to reunite Scourge's soul with his body. If he could smile, the reaper would have as he replied, "Because it's Christmas."

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><p><strong>Review Q: What's your favorite Christmas memory?<strong>

**InterCom: Beside Kook, no one has really utilized this section. I am not sure if I answered him, but I will do so in the next TSOV chapter. You guys can ask any question here. Seriously. Want to know Solo's favorite food? Dream's favorite pastime? My writing process or future stories? Emma's first time having sex? Or maybe even the sexuality of certain characters? I will ANSWER any of those questions … and more!**

**Comments: Sorry if I didn't go into great detail over Scourge's life in the 'hell on earth' place, but I just couldn't fit such a large story within this special.**

**And to Mainiac97: I'm afraid I forgot to include that character we discussed, but one could assume he met the guy while he was away, yes?**

**Another thing, I may not do a New Year's Special. What with it already being pretty late in the month and I just don't know if I'd be able to give it the time of day and great care that has become accustomed with my specials. Normally my specials, so far, have followed a pattern: they're rather long and are about love and loss. The exception is the Halloween Special which focused more on the love aspect, though it could be argued that the loss is possibly never being able to return home. My specials won't always explore such deep themes, and if I do a New Year's special, it would be light-hearted.  
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**You may have also noticed something. TSOV has become sometimes disturbingly dark (death of Solo), while sometimes throwing in a mix of humor and romance. Then there's TSOVS which explores serious themes such as love, loss, etc. And finally there's The Adventures of Solo which is very light and humorous. So now you can figure out what to read depending on your mood :P.**

**Until next we meet, Merry Christmas! (sorry for the long comments!)  
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	4. New Year's 2012

**At first I had a hard time writing this, but I somehow managed to get it done. Review Q and InterCom below!**

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><p>The Sphere of Varrock: Holiday Specials<p>

New Year's 2012

What is the worse idea you can think of? Certainly there are many terrible ideas off the top of your head, but this one is definitely a terrible idea; namely inviting a group of girls, who normally hate each other, to a sleep over in the hopes that it will bring them closer. You can safely say that the person who thought of that idea did not think it through.

I didn't think this through, Christy thought. No one is going to come, especially not Emma if she learns Emily is coming.

After a decent Christmas, in which she had received a new sword from Lakyn, new clothes from various friends, and other miscellaneous gifts, Christy had wanted to celebrate the new year a bit differently. So, with that in mind, she'd went about planning a slumber party. After all, that is what normal girls did. It was also a chance for the girls to get to know one another better. With that in mind, she had invited Emma, Emily, Lakyn, Willow, Tory, Gwendolyn, and Ruby.

Christy would be hosting the party at her house in Varrock. Earlier she had went out and bought everything needed for a great time: food and drinks, of the alcoholic variety. In Christy's opinion, if things went south, everyone getting drunk off their asses would be the least of her worries.

She also wouldn't mind seeing her Lakyn drunk, she had to admit sinfully.

Turning the corner, she crossed into the marketplace. She cursed mildly at the sight of so many people. With the New Year steadily approaching, the townsfolk were out in droves preparing for a night to remember. Fireworks, drinks, and party favors were just the beginning.

Even with her planning a New Year's party, Christy didn't pay any mind to whatever trinkets were being handed out or what festivities were being planned. Her mind was completely devoted to the task at hand: Throwing a kick-ass party.

And maybe getting Lakyn drunk, she thought with a blush.

She waded through the thick crowds and long lines, until she finally reached the stall she'd come into the market to find. It was owned by a toymaker who also happened to sell party games. She approached the stall with a smile.

"What can I do for a pretty thing like you?" asked the cheerful toymaker. "Maybe I could interest you in a few of my wares?"

A few minutes later and she was carrying a board game and a few other odd trinkets home with her to set up. Christy ran around the house tidying up as she began to prepare the food for later that night. She didn't want one single thing to be out of place for the party.

All of this was not something she normally did; now give her a sword and a target to cut down, and she was in her environment. But planning a party, let alone a sleepover, was too far out there. However, she knew that girls her age were always doing sleepovers or whatnot. And if a sleepover brought everyone closer, dispelling the hard feelings, then she would suffer through it.

"This better not kill me," she said with a groan.

She walked toward the door, opening it and welcoming the first of her guests, Lakyn. Christy had asked Lakyn to show up first for moral support. Even though she had been assured repeatedly that her idea was great and everyone would have tons of fun, she kept thinking that when Emma and Emily showed up, things would blow up. Backlit against the night sky, Lakyn stepped in and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"How are you doing, Christy?" she asked. "You look flushed."

She blushed as Lakyn put her hand up against her forehead. That's what she loved about her friend; she could very caring and protective when she wanted. "Do I really look that bad?"

Lakyn stared into her eyes, noticing how the look of them were determined, but tentative. She grinned wolfishly and scoffed loudly, startling her best friend. "You have got nothing to worry about, honey. If either of those girls get out of hand, I'll put an end to it with this." She tapped her sword which never came off as far as Christy knew.

Smiling, she nodded. If she could count on only one person, it was Lakyn. The two had met years ago, back when Christy was in trouble with the law. Imagine her surprise, while waiting for execution, when a skinny white-haired girl had appeared in front of her. "Step back," she had said evenly. Within seconds Christy was free and following her savior around like a lovesick puppy.

"What's everyone going to do when they get here?" Lakyn asked as she was led down the hall and into the living room. She planted herself on the red velvet couch, drawing her legs underneath her.

"I bought some games," Christy replied. "We can also try doing a murder mystery. I've planned it all out." Christy's eyes twinkled excitedly. With Lakyn present, she didn't feel so nervous. Her friend's wolfish qualities always seemed to quiet her down. It made her wonder if Lakyn might be part-wolf.

Or maybe a werewolf, she thought humorously. That would be romantic.

"Christy, is that alcohol I see stashed behind the couch?" Lakyn had spotted the drinks Christy had hid behind the couch. That was another thing her friend had in common with wolves: She had an incredible ability to sniff things out, even when hidden carefully. "You sneaky minx."

"If things do get out of hand," Christy began indignantly, "I want something that could possibly dull everyone's senses. And don't act all righteous on me, Lakyn. I know for a fact you're a heavy drinker."

Lakyn wagged her finger in Christy's face. "Yes, but we're not talking about me. You've bought some pretty strong stuff, Christy. Not only will it dull our senses, it'll knock us all off our feet." She flashed her friend a wicked grin. "Are you trying to get me drunk, Christy? Going to take advantage of me while I sleep?"

"No!" she exclaimed, embarrassed. "That's not what I was trying to do, honest!"

Lakyn laughed under her breath, enjoying watching Christy squirm. She patted the spot beside her, beckoning her friend to sit with her. Christy rolled her eyes and sat. After awhile, she noticed Lakyn start to wrap her arm around her shoulders, when the sudden sound of knocking startled them both.

Laughing aloud, Lakyn shooed Christy off the couch so she'd get the door. Grumbling in complaint, upset over the interruption of the quiet moment, she answered the door. Standing on her doorstep was none other than the second guest. Willow smiled and bowed before entering. "Thank you for inviting me."

"No problem," Christy said. "And you look beautiful!" Willow blushed and looked down at her clothes. Her short, black skirt and black top were as black as the night sky, and just as radiant.

Willow's clothes weren't the only thing to have changed. She was almost an entirely different person than when she had been Solo's assistant. Christy chalked it up to whatever had happened while she and Solo were trapped in that Halloween realm.

"You don't think it's too skimpy?" Willow asked sheepishly. Okay, maybe some things weren't totally different.

"No-" Christy began.

A low whistle came from behind them. Lakyn had stepped out from the room and came up behind them, sizing Willow up. Lakyn drew close to the short girl, looking her up and down like a wolf sniffing its prey. "My, don't we look absolutely scrumptious, Willow. Wearing such a tiny mini-skirt shows off those delicious legs of yours and that shirt plunges deep enough to show off your budding-"

"Lakyn!" Christy hissed sharply.

Flashing a wolfish grin, Lakyn backed off the now deeply blushing Willow and went back into the living room. Willow looked like her face had been badly sunburned, her hand was on her chest, and she was breathing shallowly. She looked towards the room Lakyn had withdrawn to and then back at Christy.

Christy noticed and smiled apologetically. "Please forgive Lakyn. She can come on a bit strong sometimes. I hope she didn't frighten you?"

Willow didn't say anything for a few minutes. When her face went back to its normal shade, she asked, "Is she going to be like that all night?" A teeny bit of red had crept back into her cheeks.

Christy groaned. "Seeing how you decided to wear that, I believe she will. Again, so sorry for her actions." She led Willow into the living room, but another knock had her leaving the poor Willow alone with a grinning Lakyn.

Reaching for the door, she heard a gasp and squeal. Sounded to Christy like Lakyn was fooling around with her _prey_. "Stop, keep your paws off me!" Willow managed to gasp as Lakyn giggled loudly.

And Lakyn wasn't even drunk yet, Christy thought.

She opened the door and greeted Tory, her third guest. If one thing could be said of the girl, it was that she had amazing hair. Her blue hair tipped with silver, her silver-stained lips, and her icy silvery-blue eyes set her apart from many girls. But tonight she had her hair tied into a ponytail.

"Evening," she said simply. "Mind if I come in?"

"Yes, come on in." She certainly was polite. "I'm glad you could come all the way from the east. It must have been a long journey for a sleepover."

Christy showed Tory where everyone was and arrived just in time, for poor Willow was blushing a shade of red she'd never seen before. When they entered the room, Willow shot off the couch and sat in the armchair on the opposite side of the room, buttoning her shirt on the way. Lakyn winked under Christy's harsh glare.

"I was just picking on her," Lakyn exclaimed mockingly. "I swear!"

"I don't even _want _to know what was happening in here," she scolded Lakyn. At least with Tory here, Willow would be safe, Christy thought with a grin. The grin was wiped off her face when she saw Tory smiling appreciatively at Willow.

"Oh great," she muttered. Not anticipating another knock so soon after the last, Christy chose to sit a spell and talk with the guests who had arrived so far. She speculated that if no one else bothered to show, the girls who were there could definitely have a party in their own right.

Or at least have fun teasing poor, blushing Willow, she thought with a sly grin.

Sitting next to Lakyn, she saw that her friend was paying quite a lot of attention to Willow, yet not the full-grown Tory. Christy leaned in and whispered into Lakyn's ear, "Stop gawking like a young fan-girl, you pedophile!"

Her friend responded with a toothy grin. "If I didn't know better, I would say you were jealous, honey. Maybe you see the budding Willow as competition? I do believe I see a hint of a blush?"

It was true, Christy had begun to blush, but she turned away to hide it. "Stop treating me like a kid, Lakyn! I'm not jealous, I'm just giving you some advice: Leave the poor girl alone or else her skin might stay that red."

"Does that extend to Tory, too?" Lakyn said, pointing.

Christy turned to face Tory and saw her shamelessly flirting with Willow who, to her shock, was responding to it! Though it was possible Willow just did not recognize Tory was flirting; she was only thirteen or fourteen after all. And what Lakyn had done to her was plenty more obvious than the subtle flirting in which Tory was using.

To protect Willow's innocence, Christy went over and struck up a conversation with the two girls, while Lakyn just sat back and watched with a smile. "Hey, so what are you girls talking about over here?"

Annoyance flickered across Tory's face, but she managed a smile. "Just complimenting Willow on her fine choice of dress."

Willow smiled sweetly at the remark. "Yeah, she's giving me tips on what clothes I could wear to show off my figure. We were talking about going shopping tomorrow, then heading back to her hotel room and playing dress up."

There is no way Willow can be this ignorant, thought Christy. Is there?

"I know some stores we could go to!" Lakyn called from the couch.

Christy spun around, daggers darting from her eyes. "No. You. Do. Not." Lakyn puckered her lips and blew a kiss. Sometimes she acted like such a child. Her 'new' attitude mostly had to do with the lack of the evil influence of her sword. Now that it had been destroyed, Lakyn had returned to her regular self, and even Christy herself seemed to have lost some of the effects.

"You know, Willow, I can take you shopping tomorrow instead," Christy offered, challenging Tory.

"That won't be necessary, Christy." Tory glared back at her. "She'll be in good _hands_." Willow looked confusedly at the two girls; she didn't have a clue as to what was going on.

It was quite literally a battle for her innocence.

Lakyn, growing incredibly bored of the proceedings, ventured into the kitchen in search of a snack or stronger alcohol. She perused the cabinets until she found where her friend kept the food. Hands full of sandwiches, Lakyn started toward her bedroom to be alone when someone knocked at the door. She paused a half second to see if anyone would answer it. When it became obvious no one was going to answer it, Lakyn begrudgingly opened the door.

Drenched in sweat from the long walk, Gwendolyn stood gasping for breath. Lakyn's eyes devoured Gwendolyn's lithe physique; her dress, tight at the bottom, as well as chest hugging at the top, showed off her curves very well. To Lakyn, there was not much left to the imagination…well, _her _imagination at least.

"What are _you _staring at, Lakyn?" Gwendolyn asked grumpily in-between gasps.

Lakyn responded with her wolfish grin and her arm. "Nothing, absolutely nothing. Here, let me help you inside, Gwen. Care for a drink?" Frowning suspiciously, Gwendolyn nonetheless accepted the arm and allowed Lakyn to lead her to the kitchen. Gwendolyn peeked into the living room as they passed, seeing a somewhat tense standoff between Christy and Tory.

"What's going on there?" she asked Lakyn.

Lakyn scoffed. "Something infinitely boring. Here, let's get you that glass of water; you look hot." She grabbed a cup, filled it with water and handed it over to a gracious Gwendolyn.

Taking long gulps, Gwendolyn drained the glass in seconds and asked for seconds. Happy to oblige, Lakyn refilled the cup, watching with an amused expression as Gwendolyn gulped the water down again. Eventually it got slightly ridiculous how much water Gwendolyn was drinking, like she was now part plant and needed the water to sustain her.

"Wow, you were really thirsty!" Lakyn said, amazed. "What exactly made you so…sweaty?"

Gwendolyn grimaced. "I was out doing experiments on various fauna. I had no idea of the time, so when the sun started going down I remembered the sleepover. So I grabbed something and took off as fast as I could in these heels of mine." Gwendolyn glanced down at her dress, frowning at how it was ruined by all the sweat. "This was a brand new dress, too."

"Well, we can't let you walk around in a sweat covered dress, can we?" Lakyn stated, a sinister gleam in her eyes. With a hint of a growl, she said, "Let's get you into some of Christy's spare clothes."

"Why are you interested in what I plan to do?" Tory asked calmly. The knocking of the fifth guest interrupted Christy's next retort. Conceding momentary defeat, she rushed to get the door. Greeting her on the other side was Ruby and Emma. Christy welcomed both into the house and asked, "You came together?"

Emma answered, "Because I had some errands to run near her camp, Ruby decided she might as well tag along with me while I finished. I didn't mind, so I said yes." She poked her head around Christy's head. "Are we late? I can hear voices coming from the room down the hall."

"The others have already arrived, but you're not too terribly late," Christy said. "We're still missing Gwendolyn and one other girl."

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Ruby squealed, delighted. "I haven't seen either of you girls since the end of the war. And I get to meet some of the others as well!" She skipped down the hall, not bothering to wait for Emma.

Emma laughed and followed her. Christy began to as well, when a sudden thump sounded from down the hall. It seemed to be coming from her room or maybe the closet? Soon there came another thump, much louder than the first.

Is that whispering? she thought curiously. Who could be in my room?

About to investigate the sounds, Ruby called for her from the living room. Giving her bedroom door one last look, she reluctantly allowed Ruby to drag her into the living room with the rest of her guests. The girls were seated on the floor in an incomplete circle which was soon corrected with the addition of her.

Emma voiced what the other girls were obviously thinking, too, "Christy, what have you got for us to do? I assume a game of some kind?"

She nodded, reaching for one of the board games she had bought at the toymaker's stall. "I thought we'd play some board games first, see where it takes us."

A few games later, and the girls began to grow restless. Just in time, there was a knock at the door. Relieved that another guest had arrived to shake things up, Christy excused herself. She opened the door and smiled at her sixth guest, Emily, the one who might cause the most problems.

Christy checked behind Emily and asked, confusedly, "There's no one with you?" Emily shrugged and shook her head. "Huh, I was expecting Gwendolyn to have arrived by now."

Emily frowned angrily. "You invited that _witch_?" Her hands clenched and unclenched as Emily glared at Christy. "Do you have any idea what a bitch she is?"

"No more than you," Christy replied, coolly.

Pushing her way inside, she said over her shoulder, "I hope you didn't invite Emma, the bimbo."

Laughing nervously, Christy led her into the living room, praying that nothing bad would happen. Sadly when Emma and Emily saw each other, bad things did happen. At first nobody said anything, like the calm before the storm. The two just stared unblinkingly at each other, before Emily made the first move.

Lunging like a cat with its claws unsheathed, she leapt at Emma who just barely dodged out of the way in time. Hitting the floor once occupied by her opponent, Emily didn't give herself enough time to put up a decent defense. Emma, her sword drawn, came at Emily like she was possessed.

Emily rolled out of the way and stumbled to her feet quickly, just managing to duck one of the sword's swings. Weaponless, and also realizing she should have brought her own sword, Emily bent low and swept her attacker off her feet. Taking advantage of her attack, she stepped on Emma's wrist hard enough to make her release the sword. Emily then picked the sword up, flung it into the hall, and jumped on Emma; her fists pounded away at Emma's defenseless face.

The others, not knowing what to do, could only stand back and watch while the two girls engaged in a battle that was a long time coming. Christy watched in fascinated horror as Emily brought her fists down repeatedly on Emma's unprotected body, now beginning to show the signs of the punches.

Regaining her senses, Emma rose up and drove her head into Emily's face, smacking it hard. Emily grimaced as blood started streaming from her nose. Knocked a bit off balance by the head butt, Emily didn't see the next attack coming. Emma smacked Emily upside the head with one of Christy's vases, then shoved her off.

She backed into the wall and slid down it onto her butt, her arms raised to protect from Emma's attacks. Emma grabbed one of the broken pieces of the vase and raised it high. Suddenly Lakyn appeared from out of nowhere, grabbed Emma and spun her across the room, planting a well placed kick to her stomach. Emma landed up against the couch and didn't move, while Lakyn proceeded to pull Emily up by her hair.

Lakyn, with a grin, shoved Emily into the armchair. Christy sighed with relief, as did the other girls, now that the fight had come to an abrupt end. She ran over and hugged Lakyn, but scolded her, too. "Where the hell were you?"

"I was hanging out with Gwen in your room when I heard the scuffle going on, so I hurried out here as fast as I could," Lakyn explained.

"Gwendolyn?" Christy asked, puzzled. As if on cue, the witch walked into the room, looking like she'd just run a marathon…and also wearing her clothes!

Christy glared at Lakyn. "Why is she wearing my clothes? And why, may I ask, is she sweating?" She waited for Lakyn to say something, but Lakyn just grinned wolfishly. "Fine, don't want to answer? Let's just get some of those drinks out and cool the tensions."

Lakyn grabbed up all the drinks and passed them around to everyone, though Willow's was definitely watered down quite a bit. When everyone had drained their bottles, Christy brought out another round. Finally Emma and Emily had calmed down and weren't trying to kill each other anymore. Someone threw out the suggestion of playing Truth or Dare, a game where one player had to ask someone else whether they'd like truth or dare. Depending on the second player's answer, she would either have to reveal a truth about herself or do something possibly embarrassing.

"I'll go first!" Ruby said excitedly. "Tory, truth or dare?"

Tory replied, "I pick truth."

Ruby grinned and took a few seconds to think. "I got it! Tory, how long has it been since you have been out on a date?"

"It's been over a year since my last date," Tory answered.

Ruby gasped. "You poor girl! That must be terrible."

Tory shrugged. "I've kept busy with certain…matters. And you only said dates, you never said anything about, well, flings."

Blushing, Ruby said, "Wow, Tory! I never pegged you like that."

Tory smiled. "Well, now it's my turn. Let's see, Lakyn, truth or dare?"

Lakyn reclined on her hands with a sigh. "I'll go with truth, but just try to leave me some of my secrets, okay?"

"Have you ever stolen something?"

"Oh, yes indeed," Lakyn said, grinning broadly. "I've stolen many things over the years."

"Like what?" Willow inquired curiously.

Lakyn broke into one of her wolfish grins, crawling on hands and knees until she was inches from Willow's face, which was now blushing. "Virginities."

Christy reached out and drug her friend back by her ear. "What did I tell you about scaring the girl?"

Lakyn stared back defiantly. "Just spicing things up, honey," she said with a laugh. "Now, I believe it's my turn to ask the questions. Who shall I ask? How about…Willow! Willow, truth…or dare?"

"Truth," she said, but the other girls booed.

"We've done enough truths, do a dare!" Emily yelled playfully. She was much more cordial once she was full of mind-numbing alcohol.

Willow looked around at everyone nodding and sighed. "Fine, I choose dare, Lakyn."

Oh no, Christy thought. Lakyn's smiling and that's never a good thing. What is she planning in that twisted head of hers?

Pretending to think hard about what dare to give Willow, Lakyn glanced at her friend out of the corner of her eye. She winked at Willow and said, "I dare you to kiss me."

Everyone gasped with a few bemused smiles thrown in as well. Lakyn had turned up the fire; the game was on, which meant that everyone would have to dish out juicy truths and dares to beat hers. Willow's eyes darted back and forth, a shy smile on her face. She tried putting on a brave face, at least for the others, but truth be told she had only ever kissed one person in her entire live; that person had been a guy. Before last year, she would have never even thought about kissing another girl, dare or not, but tonight she was braver and more willing to try new things.

"Lakyn," Christy warned. "Don't do this to Willow. Give her something tamer, please."

"Get the stick out of your butt," Tory interjected. "How about you ask Willow if she wants to or not? It's _her _choice after all."

"I agree with Christy, girls," Emma threw out. "She's just a young girl, no reason to scar her with something like this."

"It's just a game," Emily countered. "We're all, ok, we're not all friends, but it's just a little friendly game."

Emma glared at Emily. "Game or not, we shouldn't be going this route anyways. It hardly seems like the best way to bond."

Lakyn sat sulking. "You guys certainly know how to kill the mood."

Getting up in her friend's face, Christy said harshly, "_You _are the one trying to make out with a young girl."

The group began to argue heatedly over whether or not Lakyn should have dared Willow to kiss her. Willow, Gwendolyn, and Ruby were the only ones not actively participating in the discussion, nor did they want to. Willow looked to Gwen and Ruby. "What do you guys think? Is this even such a big deal?"

"It seems harmless to me," Ruby said happily. "I believe you should do what you want, Willow."

Willow turned to Gwendolyn for her take. The witch shrugged. "I think they were just looking for something to fight over, especially when you consider who we're talking about: Emma hates Emily, Lakyn and Christy have a strained relationship, and I honestly haven't pegged Tory quite yet.

"Here's what I think. You are at that age where teens start to experiment, so taking this dare is part of that; however, Truth or Dare is a game and I really don't think it should be taken too seriously."

"Thanks for the advice," Willow said. "I think everyone is just being silly. I won't be a wuss, I'm going to take the dare."

A fire in her heart, Willow stood up and boldly approached Lakyn. She grabbed hold of her shoulders, bent down, and kissed her square on the mouth. The others stopped quarreling, their eyes wide with surprise.

When Lakyn tried inserting her tongue, though, Willow broke the kiss abruptly. She was blushing so red, she thought for a second she might have a fever, explaining how warm she felt.

Lakyn laughed. "Braver than I thought you were, Willow. Care to continue?"

Willow smiled, but declined. "I just wanted to get the dare over with. I'm not like that, not like you."

Amazed that Willow had done it, Christy's only thought was to get more alcohol. She brought out the stash from behind the couch, giving everyone two bottles each. All she wanted was to drink the night away.

Having gotten everyone drunk, the girls continued Truth or Dare, sharing some delightful secrets with each other, and doing some rather embarrassing dares; none got close to the kiss Willow planted on Lakyn, even though Christy could see in Tory's eyes that she wanted to.

Several hours passed and the sun began peeking up over the horizon. Christy stirred grumpily from her sleep. She sat up and saw she had fallen asleep on the couch with Lakyn snuggled up with her. She took a few moments to watch her friend in her sleep.

She looks so cute like this, she thought with a smile.

Lakyn's eyes fluttered open. She looked around lazily until she saw who she was sleeping on. Grinning, Lakyn sat up and wrapped her arms around her best friend. "Did you take advantage of me while I slept, you dirty minx?"

Christy scoffed in response. "Yeah, cause that's exactly what I would do." She smiled so Lakyn would know she wasn't being serious.

Heaving a great big sigh, Lakyn laid her head on Christy's shoulders. "Ok, then." She slipped her arms around Christy's waist and was soon fast asleep, nestled in Christy's arms.

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><p><strong>Review Q: What's the craziest game of Truth or Dare you've ever played?<strong>

**InterCom: Remember, if you have any questions, this is the place to ask them.  
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**This question was asked by NoodleGorillaz23: What happened to Tory after Solo left for his Knight Exams?**

**Answer: Tory was an entry in a character contest in Mainiac97's story. She is thus found in his story as well. To find out what she did after Solo left for the exams, make sure to re-read Mainiac97's story (Chapters 73, 76, 79, and 87). She also appears in my upcoming Valentine's Day special.**

**Comments: I hope this special was to everyone's liking. Every New Year's Special will be a sleepover story.**

**Until next we meet, adieu!**


	5. Anti Valentine's Day 2012

**This is my Anti-Valentine's Day chapter...because I hate Valentine's Day -_- . Review Q below!**

**I had this uploaded in time yesterday, but I removed the chapter. I wanted something more serious, in line with my previous chapters, but I just couldn't write a serious Valentine's Day chapter...sigh.  
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><p>The Sphere of Varrock: Holiday Specials<p>

Anti-Valentine's Day 2012

She sat alone at the bar, a large cup of beer her only companion in the gritty place. Tory had spent the day wandering Falador before finding the place, something she regretted after seeing the filthy bar. It was as if someone thought combining a bar and a barn would be a genius idea.

Well it wasn't.

Today was Valentine's Day. A day supposed to fill people with bubbly romance-y feelings.

What a crock.

Here she was sitting alone in a dirty bar surrounded by tons of perverted men who wanted nothing more than to get inside her pants.

She let a brief smile grace her face. None of these men knew they were not getting lucky tonight. And if any of them tried anything, things would get messier than the floor of the bar.

Instinctively she reached for her weapon, the Silver Fox, but frowned when she recalled leaving it behind in her hotel room. Remembering she had promised not to stir up any trouble by toting a huge weapon around with her, she briefly considered breaking the promise, but thought better of it.

The boss didn't want her drawing attention to themselves just yet.

A large man smelling of beer and desperation approached her, flashing a grin that revealed a mouth filled with yellow, rotten teeth.

"How you doing, young lady?" he asked. "Never seen a pretty girl with blue hair. How about I buy you another round of beer?"

"No."

"Oh, then how about we just head back to my place and get dirty?"

"Not a chance."

He placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Maybe you didn't hear me. When I ask you to come back to my place, you get off your damn feet and come with me!"

Whipping around she punched the creeper in the face. He screamed after seeing that she had broken his nose and a few of his teeth. Slinging curses like a fireball spell, he made as if to grab her, but found another woman blocking him.

"The lady said she didn't want to go with you," the brunette said, with a calm demeanor that betrayed a raging storm. "Now get the hell out of here before I kick your ass."

He looked like he was going to argue until she pulled out a short sword and pointed it at him. Beating a hasty retreat, he ran for the door like a dog with its tail between its legs.

"Sorry about that loser. He's always hounding the girls who come in. Forgot to introduce myself. I'm Tylia."

"Tory."

"That's an interesting hair color," Tylia said. "Dyed?"

She nodded and motioned for her knight in shining armor to sit with her. "Blue has been my favorite color ever since I was a little girl, so first chance I got I dyed my hair."

"And the silver tips?"

"Enhances the color," she replied.

"It certainly does." Tylia waved the bartender and ordered a round for her and Tory. "So what is a pretty girl like yourself doing in this rotten place on Valentine's Day?"

She disliked bar talk. No, a better word was loathed. Why did patrons feel compelled, when faced with a glass of ale in their hands, to chat it up with whoever was closest?

It was completely asinine.

But alcohol has a magical effect on people. After several rounds, Tory began to fill tipsy. Her tongue more willing to wag than normal.

"Come on, Tory," Tylia begged. "What's a strong, sexy girl doing in this dump on Valentine's Day? You must have a…boyfriend?"

"No, no boyfriend."

Slipping closer into Tory's personal space, Tylia asked, "Oh, what about a _girlfriend_? Do you have one of those?"

She shook her head. She felt funny, more so than alcohol would make her.

Tylia placed her hand on Tory's shoulder. "A sexy woman like yourself shouldn't be alone on such a passionate holiday."

Tory, to her horror, let out a giggle. Now she knew something was terribly wrong.

Her vision blurred, and she could barely hear what Tylia was saying; her lips moved, but no sound came out.

"W-what did you put in my drink?" was the last thing Tory said before she passed out.

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><p>Cold shackles cutting into her forearms woke the sleeping Tory from her imposed stupor. Her eyes opened to pitch blackness. After a few seconds of adjusting to the dark, she discovered that she was housed in a small basement, surrounded on both sides by cement walls, and a dirt floor beneath her feet.<p>

Her arms were shackled to the wall by chains, but her legs were free.

She grimly noticed various torture devices spread around the room, all covered in varying degrees of rust and blood, all having been used recently.

What had happened? She dimly recalled being at a bar. Had she been slipped something?

Tylia! That girl had slipped her some drug to make her pass out.

"But why?" she pondered out loud.

Tory glanced up at the shackles, examining them to see if there was any way of escaping. Their paint shone with the glint of freshly made metal. Barring ripping them out of the wall, she didn't see a way out of this mess.

She looked towards the door across from her. The sound of a key being inserted alerted her to her captor's return.

"How's my little girl today?" Tylia asked, entering the room with a cruel smile tattooed to her face.

Striding across the room, the woman placed a dagger on a table resting nearby, then turned to face her stone-faced prisoner.

"What's wrong?" she mocked Tory. "Not enjoying this very special treatment? Only the best for our favorite customer!"

"I bet you are wondering as to why I've kidnapped you," she continued.

"Please, I'd rather you skipped the typical villain monologue and just get to the point," Tory said.

"Fine then, let's get started," Tylia said. "My master would like to know where your associates are hiding."

"Probably in that ass of yours. It's certainly large enough."

"Screw you!" Tylia said, venomously. She grabbed the dagger and plunged it into Tory's shoulder. "How does that feel, bitch?"

In a moment of dexterity, Tory pulled her legs high and wrapped them around Tylia's throat, holding her in a choke hold.

Choking, Tylia asked, "H-how did you do that?"

"Never leave a prisoner's legs unchained."

"Please, please don't kill me!" she begged. "I'll tell you anything, anything at all, just let me live."

"Who sent you? Why drug me?"

"It-it was because of the gang you belong to, Tory," she said with difficulty, Tory's well-toned legs squeezing the breath from her. "My employer has an interest in you."

"Why does your employer have an interest in me or my gang?"

"Because of your connection to the White Knight General Solo Pehkayer."

Tory's heart skipped a beat at that name. It had been a long time since his name had been spoken.

"Why should your employer care?" Tory asked. "Solo is…gone."

_Kill this bitch_, a voice commanded.

"Before he _disappeared_," Tylia explained, "He was a thorn in my master's side for a long time. He prevented my master from achieving her plan. She would very much like to have revenge against him and his companions."

_Let me loose and I will take care of this pest, Tory_, the voice persisted.

"Where can I find her?"

"I-I can't tell you. If I do, she'll kill me with that monstrous green sword of hers!"

_She dares to speak his name_, the voice whispered calmly. _Let me kill her so the Peace returns_.

Tory closed her eyes and surrendered to the Silver Wasp. When she opened them, her eyes glinted with an almost murderous glee.

"Then you are worthless," she whispered, a slight grin creeping up her face.

"Y-your eyes," Tylia whispered, fear in her heart. "Something's wrong with them."

Twisting her legs violently, Tory snapped Tylia's neck like a foot snaps a twig. Tylia's limp form dropped to the floor with a thud, the blood draining from her face.

Tory suddenly blacked out, her Silver Wasp persona receding back into the depths of her mind. When she awoke she was still chained to the wall, and Tylia still lay dead on the floor.

Tory looked at her restraints, realizing too late she didn't have the key to open them, and even if she did there would be no way to use it.

She cursed violently. "I hate Valentine's Day."

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><p><strong>Review Q: What's your favorite treat to receive on Valentine's Day? Tell me in a review. <strong>

**Comments: Okay! Little announcement to make before we end this chapter. There are not any really big holidays coming up besides Easter, and I don't have a story for Easter, so this will be the last holiday special until either summer or October. I don't feel like writing any more specials for a long time, but I shall at least get part 2 of last year's Halloween Special up.**

**If you want MORE, then you'll have to decide between specials or updates on my other stories, because I'm stretched thin already. Head to my account and read the latest set of announcements, pronto! It will let you know about delays, hiatuses, and new stories.  
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**By the way, to learn more about Tylia, please read _The Adventures of Solo_ story I have up. There's going to be some interesting developments as we go on, but until then: The Sphere of Varrock Holiday Specials is on _HIATUS_!**

**Until next we meet, adieu!**


	6. April Fool's Day 2012

**Hope you enjoy my April Fool's Day chapter.**

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><p>The Sphere of Varrock: Holiday Specials<p>

April Fool's Day 2012

The wreckage that was Falador surrounded Willow as she defended herself as best she could; not an easy task when her attacker was Emma LeCeux.

"You betrayed us!" Emma yelled seething with anger. "How could you do it?"

"He's my father," she retorted, spitting in Emma's face. "What did you really expect me to do?"

Sparks flew as Emma brought her sword down at Willow's head, but was blocked by her sword. Occasionally Emma would get in a few good licks, even dealing some significant damage.

"I expected you to side with us against Ruko, because we're your friends! He killed Dream, Lakyn, our friends because of what you did!"

"There was no way I could say no to Father, Emma, he's too powerful," Willow said, tears in her eyes. "I had no choice!"

Blinded by her tears, she missed Emma's fist coming straight at her. She reeled back, dropping her sword. She bent over to grab her sword. Coming in hot, Emma brought her knee to Willow's stomach, swiftly bringing her down.

"Stand up, Willow," Emma commanded. "So we can finish this."

Willow glanced up through her hair. "If you insist, but let's see you do it with no weapon."

She raised her hand and released a blast of energy, snapping Emma's sword in half.

Throwing her weapon to the ground, Emma ran screaming at Willow, surprising the young girl immensely.

Willow leapt back from Emma's swipe, then swept her out from her feet. Taking the opportunity to attack, Willow plunged her sword into Emma's chest, then pulled out her side dagger and stabbed that into her chest, too.

Gasping from the pain, Emma glared up at Willow, anger in her eyes. "We trusted you, Willow, and you screwed us. Even screwed your own uncle."

Solo. Willow missed him so much since his death. Coming from the future along with Artus Sorrai and Ruko, she had known going into the relationship, however brief it was, that he was her uncle.

She knew it was sick, but he was just so handsome she couldn't resist. Willow thought back fondly to the steamy night spent between them in the Halloween world they had been trapped in. That was when she had given herself to her mother's brother completely.

She blushed at the thought.

"Solo was too irresistible, Emma," she tried to explain. "You understand, right? You were with him for a time, until Emily took him from you."

Emma writhed on the weapons impaling her into the ground. "Go to hell, Willow."

Watching as Emma tried to move despite being pinned to the ground, Willow sighed deeply. This wasn't how she wanted to end it. Her father, Ruko Y'ru, had promised that none of her friends would die when he took over.

That was a complete lie - all of them had died. Even her beloved Solo.

Now Emma was about to be added to the list of friends she had slain. Tears streaming down her dirty face, she laid a hand on her friend's face and blasted it with a spell.

"I'm so sorry, Emma," she whispered.

She looked up at all the carnage wrought by Ruko's invasion of Gielinor using an army of goblins. Willow could just make out the dismembered corpses of Dream, Sir Amik, Clayguy, and Sin.

"Please forgive me," she begged as she fell to her knees.

Her hand brushed up against the shattered half of Emma's blade. Picking it up, she sobbed. Bringing it to her stomach she cried out, "Forgive me!" and slammed the blade into her.

Willow let out a guttural cry and slumped over as she bled to death.

* * *

><p>A distance figure worked its way through what was left of Falador, checking each of the buildings for signs of life - none were found.<p>

When he happened upon Willow, he stopped and stooped down. He carefully slid the blade out and picked her up. Peering down at her, he kissed her lifeless lips one last time.

"You're in a better place, Willow," Solo said solemnly. And with that, he carried her off into the night.


	7. April Fool's Day 2012 Addendum

Hey guys, this is Haseo. I hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter because…it was an April Fool's joke! Haha, I hope you didn't really think Willow was the future niece of Solo, or that she was the daughter of Ruko. For that to happen Ruko would have to be Solo's brother-in-law and married to some hidden sister of Solo (who I named Sara).

I fashioned this spur of the moment joke chapter when I re-read a review, I think, by Sinlimitless. He thought Willow might be a spy for Artus Sorrai, so I incorporated that (I.e. coming back from the future with Sorrai and Ruko).

I just wanted to make sure I said it was non-canon, in case someone out there got confused.

May we meet again, adieu!


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